Bagels are easy and popular recipes online are overcomplicated. The New York water thing is bullshit. I've said my piece.
It's the small, extra-mile steps that pay dividends in the final product. Splashing out and using a high-protein flour, like bread flour, makes them chewy. Taking the time to rest them overnight allows CO2 to develop in the dough, and is what gives good bagels that thin, crunchy snap. Adding malt to both the dough and water does more for flavor than the mineral content of your water ever can; I like the syrup, others like powders. The slightly-more-complicated method of forming by rolling a log and joining the ends makes them dense and gives the exterior that beautiful swirl. The King Arthur video presents a great shaping method. You can get really into the weeds and find people online who swear by other, more-involved tactics, but it's these four core items that are worth setting laziness aside for. Diminishing returns beyond that.
Assuming you have a stand mixer, the active time to make them is still less than the wait at a certain Pittburgh establishment. I would maybe not try this one by hand unless you're okay with kneading for an hour straight.
Ingredients
- 450g Flour
- 270g Water [60%]
- 7g Instant Yeast [1.5%]
- 16g Barley Malt Syrup [3.5%] + Extra
- 9g Salt [2%]
Directions
- Combine wet ingredients and whisk to combine. Add dry ingredients and mix by hand to form a shaggy dough.
- Knead on medium speed until dough can be stretched thin, ~20 minutes.
- Bulk until doubled in size, ~2 hours.
- Divide into 6-8 equal pieces and form bagels. Transfer to a semonlia-lined (or greased) half sheet. Cover and proof 30 minutes, or until bagels float in a bowl of water. Refrigerate covered overnight.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and add barley malt until water is tealike in color. Boil bagels for 2 minutes, flipping halfway through. If desired, top after boiling.
- Bake at 450f for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before slicing.
[Added 6/18]
To make them sourdough...
- Flour now 400g, water now 220g, do not use instant yeast
- Mix flour, water, and syrup, rest 30 minutes, then add salt and 100g ripe starter.
- Continue as normal, including kneading (instead of stretching + folding). With my starter, bulk took 5 hours, and the RT proof took 1.